Serious Chaos
by Simply Rexene
Summary: My third and final attempt at Baby Doll/Simply Chaos. I've been dying to do a high school AU that also involved an omegaverse, and there was also a big part of me that regrets never finishing this fic idea. It's definitely different now, but you'll recognize some of the same themes and ideas from the originals. Some pairings have altered now that I've played KH3 as well. Enjoy!
1. 10 Year Plan

**One**

_10 Year Plan_

* * *

"My life is over!" Xion Gainsborough declared as she dramatically flopped onto her sister's bed, wrinkling the crisply made comforter and causing Namine's eye to twitch a little.

"What is it this time? Was your favorite eyeliner out of stock again?" she guessed, unable to roll her eyes high enough to express her annoyance with her sister's antics.

Xion scoffed and rolled onto her stomach, pushing her raven black hair out of her eyes. "No, and I resent that you'd assume so! I'm not that fucking vapid, Nami."

"You hunted down the manager of Sephora and made a scene in front of the entire mall, Xi. I'm pretty sure after the bitchfest you threw at her, they'll never run out of eyeliner again," Namine reminded her, raising an eyebrow. Her sister constantly acted like her life was ending because of one thing or another. It made sense that she was the president of the drama club. She had enough drama to fuel the entire school.

"Ex_cuse_ me for expecting more from my favorite store. And to be fair, she promised me that they'd be in on the next shipment and they weren't. But that's beside the point!" she huffed, remembering why she'd come into her sister's room in the first place. "No, I was trying to choose my classes online and all the good omega classes are full already! I'm gonna get stuck in a level one baking class if I can't convince them to let me into sewing."

Namine snorted with laughter and swiveled around in her desk chair to face her. "You seriously waited until now to pick your classes? I sent mine in last month!"

"Shut uppp," Xion whined, letting her face fall into Namine's blanket. "I hate baking," she grumbled, her voice muffled in the fabric.

"You're a terrible omega. Your future mate is gonna be fucked," the blonde commented, shaking her head in disapproval. "I've made sure to take at least one level of every omega course offered. I want to be well rounded for Riku."

At the mention of her boyfriend's name, Xion scowled. "I still don't like that guy. There's something up with him, and I can't figure out what."

Namine knew exactly what her sister was picking up on, but her future mate had sworn her to secrecy. "He's a good guy, and he's going to be an amazing mate. You're just jealous."

"Uhh, no actually, I'm not. I don't give a fuck about finding a mate right now. We're only in high school. All the alphas are dumbasses and all the betas are pathetic. I'm waiting until I've toured with a Broadway show at least once before I even think about finding a mate."

"I gotta hand it to you, Xi, you do know where your priorities lie," Namine had to admit, shrugging her shoulders as she turned back to her computer screen.

Xion smiled proudly. "I have a 10 year plan and I'm sticking to it."

"Let me guess… baking isn't in the plan?"

"No! Fuck no! How would knowing how to bake help me end up on Broadway? And why is baking even necessary for omegas to know? Will our alphas die if they don't get fresh baked cookies every night after work?"

Namine shrugged again. "Our job is to keep the house and raise the kids. They're trying to make sure we know what we're doing."

"Ha! You might be content with that life, but I sure as fuck won't be. Whoever my mate ends up being, he sure as hell better let me do my own thing."

"Riku said I can have a career if I want to, but I'm really only interested in doing some commission art in my free time. Nothing too serious, you know? He's studying pre-law, so it's not like we'll really need another income. I'd rather be free to create whenever I want to."

Xion nodded. "I can see that for you. I don't know if I could picture you at an actual job. You're too shy."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure any kind of customer service would kill me," she laughed, agreeing with her sister.

"But… you know you aren't going to be able to rely on Riku forever, right?"

Namine cocked her head to the side curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I've just noticed lately that when we're around people, you tend to kind of cling to him, and you don't really socialize unless he's with you. You kind of act like Kairi sometimes…"

"First of all, there's nothing wrong with Kairi or the way she acts. Second, I don't think you're right. I'm perfectly capable of socializing without Riku," she defended herself, her brow furrowing.

Xion put her hands up. "Hey, hey. I'm not trying to offend you or bag on Kairi. You know I love her to pieces. I just don't want to see you disappear into him, that's all. I've seen it happen with omegas and their alphas before. The omega kind of loses their own personality and just becomes an extension of the alpha."

"Xi, I would never lose myself like that. Don't worry. Seriously," she tried to reassure her, even though doubt was tickling the back of her mind. She was already aware that she was losing herself in her boyfriend, but she didn't know how to stop it from happening. She would promise herself every time they hung out that things would be different, but then fall right back into the same pattern time and time again.

"Well, I'm gonna try to email the teacher of the sewing course and see if she's got room for one more. I have my own sewing machine, and I'll bring that bitch to school if I have to," Xion changed the subject, rolling off her sister's bed. "What are you doing, anyways?"

Namine blushed and closed the document on her screen. "Just some writing."

"Oh. I'll let you get back to it."

She would never admit it to either of her sisters, or anybody else for that matter, but Namine was an avid writer of fanfiction. Before Xion's dramatic entrance, she'd been working on a gay sex scene between two characters from Voltron: Legendary Defender. She'd also drawn quite a bit of fanart for the series, including a comic that she posted on Instagram regularly. She was hoping to get to a break in the story before school started, because she knew she wouldn't have the time for it once they went back.

But as she tried to refocus on her story, Xion's words were swimming around in her head. She'd seen it happen too, where an omega gets absorbed into their alpha's personality. She loved Riku, but she didn't want that to happen. So she made a decision; junior year was going to be different. And this time, she really meant it.

"Nami?"

She jumped and swiveled in her chair to face her other triplet, smiling softly. "What's up, Kai?"

"I overheard you talking about your schedules, and I need to submit mine as well. I would have asked mother for help, but she seems very tired."

"Oh! Of course I'll help you! Come on in," she grinned, quickly leaning over and flipping off the lights so that only her desk lamp was on.

Kairi nodded and stepped into the room, sitting down at the foot of her sister's bed. "Thank you. I already signed up for the academic courses I want to take, but I have no idea what I should take for my omega courses."

"I'll help you decide. Here, type in your password to the school's website for me."

The redhead got up, but her fingers just hovered over the keys.

"Oh right, sorry," Namine apologized, pulling a canister of Lysol wipes out of her desk. She took one and wiped down the keyboard very thoroughly with it, then did the same thing a second time. "Better?"

"Thank you," her sister gave her a curt nod, typing in her username and password. When it successfully logged in, she sat back down on the end of the bed.

Namine pulled up the scheduling app and checked out what academic courses her sister had chosen. "Jeez, Kairi! You're in all AP courses this year!"

"Of course I am. I have a 4.5 GPA. Why would I not take the best courses available?" she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Yeah, but… do you really want to take Bio and Chemistry in the same year? You can always take one next year," Namine told her, staring at the full course load that Kairi planned on taking.

Kairi gave her a confused look. "But when will I take Physics?"

"Kai, you're really taking both Geometry and Calculus too? Do you hate yourself or something? Are these courses even offered allowed to be stacked like this?"

"I don't understand. Why would I hate myself? I'd argue that I am doing myself a favor by taking the best courses our school has to offer. Plus, I have an extra slot available because they don't make me take Gym."

Namine remembered what Kairi's last experience in a gym class had been like. Total disaster. Someone threw a kickball at her and she curled up in the fetal position until their mom came to pick her up. "True, but don't you want to take anything fun?"

"Academics are fun," Kairi remarked, shrugging. "I just need an arts class and an omega course. What should I take?"

"Ooh, you could take Drawing with me!"

Kairi grimaced, her nose wrinkling up. "No. The sound of pencil on paper bothers me."

"Oh, right… I'm trying to think of something that wouldn't bother you. Uh… Band would be way too loud, and you'd have to go outside… Drama is a definite no… You already took Creative Writing and Poetry… Hey, what about Pottery? Do you think that would bother you? You'd have to get your hands dirty, but you could always wear gloves."

She thought about it for a moment. "I suppose that would be okay. I'll bring my own gloves. Or do you think they have them?"

"Uhh, no Kai. I doubt they have gloves. Most people like the feeling of the clay on their skin."

"People are very strange," she shook her head, playing with the sleeve of her hoodie. "What omega class should I take?"

Namine looked through the options, trying to decide which one would be the least annoying for her. "Well, what about the Parenting course? That's what I'm taking this year."

Kairi furrowed her brow. "Do you really think I'll ever have children?"

"I wouldn't completely count it out. Lots of autistic people have kids," Namine reminded her.

"But that would require me to find a mate. Who would ever want to mate with me? I'm broken…"

Namine stomped her foot in frustration. "No you aren't, and don't say that! Now I'm signing you up for Parenting with me, and that's that."

"Whatever you say," Kairi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's the spirit! And hey, who knows? Maybe this year we'll finally run into the boy from the island," she mentioned, knowing it would hit a nerve with her sister.

Kairi sat up straight, her blue eyes going wide. "Do you really think so? I'm starting to think I never even saw him that day. I was just a kid anyways."

"Kai, he's the only human being besides me, Xi and Mom that I've ever seen you take any interest in. He's out there somewhere, and we're going to find him someday."

It had been a long time since she'd seen Kairi blush. "He was so cute… and he had such kind eyes. I'll never forget them."

"Good, 'cause that's probably the only way we'll ever find him again. Whatever you do, remember those eyes!" Namine laughed, finishing up Kairi's schedule and submitting it for her. "Hey… I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Do you… I mean, do you think that I'm too wrapped up in Riku?" she wondered, hoping for another opinion on the subject.

But Kairi just glanced around. "What are you talking about? Riku isn't wrapped around you at all."

"No, no… I didn't mean literally, Kai. I meant, like… do you think I rely on him too much?"

"Oh! I don't know. Aren't omegas supposed to rely on their alpha? I would want my alpha to be reliable. I wonder if the island boy is reliable," she went off on her own tangent, offering absolutely no useful answer to Namine's question.

She just sighed. "You're right, Kai. Thanks for the advice."

Kairi stood up and nodded. "We are done. I'll see you at dinner."

"Sure."

"Six o'clock."

"I know, Kairi." Her sister had to eat every meal at the exact same time every day. It was one of her little quirks that the family had just gotten used to over time. She'd even set an alarm on her phone for 5 till just to make sure she didn't trigger one of Kairi's episodes.

She was still contemplating her story when her phone buzzed on her desk, and a new text from Riku popped up on the screen.

_Riku: Hey babe. You wanna hang out tomorrow? I'm going to the gym, but I thought you could come along._

Under any other circumstances, her answer would have been an immediate yes. But now that Xion had put doubt in her mind, she rethought it.

_Namine: Actually, I'm going to the beach with my sister tomorrow. Sorry._

_Riku: Uhhh… okay? What are you going to do at the beach?_

_Namine: Beach stuff? Idk._

_Riku: All right, I guess that's okay. Maybe I'll meet you there after the gym._

_Namine: Don't worry about it. We're gonna have a girl's day._

_Riku: …Fine._

Namine stared at his response, her heart pounding in her chest. She'd never really openly defied him like that before, and she couldn't really read his emotions through the text. From what she could tell, though, he seemed pissed.

_Namine: Love you baby._

_Riku: U too._


	2. We Might Need a New Blender

**Two**

_We Might Need a New Blender_

* * *

"Uhh… Dad?"

Cloud glanced up from his iPad. "Yeah, son?"

"I'm trying to choose my classes and it keeps asking me if I'm an alpha, beta or omega. What the heck does that mean?" Sora wondered, furrowing his brow at his laptop.

"Fuck…" his dad grumbled, setting his tablet aside and rubbing his temples. "I totally forgot about a/b/o courses."

Sora put the footrest of the recliner down and gave his dad a curious look. "What are you talking about? You never mentioned this stuff when you home schooled me on the island."

"Because I hate the whole hierarchy, and I was hoping to protect you from it when you were growing up," Cloud told him, taking off his reading glasses and folding them into his pocket. "I always thought we'd have this conversation when you turned 16, but you never went through rut or heat, so I figured it could wait."

"So… you realize you're still making no sense, right?"

Cloud chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry that I waited until now to tell you all of this, because I'm about to completely change your entire view on the world. I just wanted you to grow up without worrying about the universe's expectations of you. My parents were really adamant about me finding a mate from a young age, and I think that's why I fucked up with your mom so bad. I never should have been with her in the first place, but I was so desperate to find a mate and shut my parents up."

"Mate? Dad, what the heck are you talking about? Mom was your wife."

"Well yeah, but she was also my mate," Cloud pointed out, knowing that he was thoroughly confusing his son. "Right. I suck at this. Sora, everybody has …well, it's kind of like a second gender in a way. You're either alpha, beta or omega, and each one has different characteristics. Alphas are the top tier and omegas are the bottom. Betas fall somewhere in the middle."

Sora lifted an eyebrow. "The top tier of what? And who decides where someone falls?"

"Of the hierarchy, I guess. I dunno, it's just kind of an unspoken thing that everybody obeys. We're compelled to follow it. I'm pretty sure it's programmed into our brains from birth. And nobody decides, by the way. Everybody is born with their class, and you're stuck with it whether you like it or not."

The brunette wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. It sounded like something out of a storybook, but not real life. "So… what am I, then?"

"You're a beta, which I honestly think is for the best. You won't have to deal with any of the expectations of an alpha or omega. You get to decide what kind of career you want, and who you want to mate with, or if you even want to find a mate. You won't have the pressure of fitting into your role."

Sora had to admit, that did sound like the best of the options. "Well then what are you?"

"I'm an omega," Cloud told him, looking sheepish about it. "We pretty much exist to be housewives. At least that's how it was when I was growing up. Your generation is changing things quite a bit."

As funny as it was to picture his dad as a housewife, Sora found it hard to believe that his father could possibly be an omega. "But Dad, you're a famous marine biologist. That's not exactly screaming 'housewife' to me."

"That's because I defied my role when your mom left me. I wanted to finally be my own person. Why do you think you've never met your grandparents? They hate me for it."

"So was Mom an alpha?" Sora wondered, considering he knew next to nothing about her.

Cloud shook his head. "Nah, she was just a beta. That was another thing that pissed off my parents. They wanted me to find myself some big, strong alpha mate and instead I chose the cute beta girl from gym class."

"Wow. So you used to be really into Mom, then? What happened?"

"No, no. I used to be really good friends with your mom. We settled for each other because we were both being pressured to find mates, and in the end we ended up resenting each other for it. She fell in love with someone else, and I…"

Sora frowned. "You what?"

"I let her go. I moved to the island and decided to focus on my career. I had no idea she'd been pregnant until she showed up with you and left you here."

"I don't understand. How could she just leave me here like that? Didn't she want me?"

Cloud sighed. "She thought you'd be better off with me. Omegas are genetically predispositioned to care for children. At least, that's what she told me at the time. And I wanted you in my life so badly that I didn't ask questions. I just took you and never looked back, and I will never, ever regret that."

"I'm glad I grew up on the island with you, Dad. I just wish I knew her, that's all."

"I know, son. I can't blame you. But I honestly have no idea where she even is. She's changed her number since I knew her, and she's not on any kind of social media. Believe me, I've looked."

Sora stretched, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back. "It's cool, Dad. I've got the best parent in the world already."

"You might not be calling me that when you go to school next month…" Cloud mumbled, regretting not explaining something so important to him sooner. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you, Sora. In hindsight, I should have prepared you for what the world is actually like outside of the island. I guess I just got trapped in our little private bubble out there and forgot that we wouldn't be there forever."

"I'd have stayed there forever if you would've let me," Sora grinned, already missing their home on Destiny Island. "But I'm glad you got this new job. I know how excited you are to start."

"Well yeah! This new lab has technology I've never even dreamed of! It's going to take my research so much further than I ever imagined. And they have boats that can get me way farther out in the ocean to dive because I'll have a crew supporting me."

He loved how excited his dad got about his work. "Just be careful, okay? No getting eaten by sharks or anything."

"But sharks are so interesting!" Cloud objected, causing both of them to burst out in laughter.

"Dad… do you think I'll do okay at school? I mean, I was nervous enough before I found out about all this. Now there's this whole dynamic system that I've gotta worry about on top of it all. And since I'm pretty sure I'm probably the only person on the planet who didn't know about it, people are going to treat me like a freak."

Cloud wanted to believe that people wouldn't treat him any differently because he'd grown up on the island, but he knew that it was unlikely. Highschoolers had the tendency to be particularly cruel. Especially alphas towards betas. They liked to make betas feel useless because their dynamic wasn't as important as the others. "I won't lie to you and try to tell you it'll be okay, but I know you can handle it. Whatever anybody tells you, Sora, you are a strong, capable person. You deserve just as much as anybody else."

"Thanks, Dad. Now how do I go about choosing classes? Are there any specific course for betas?" he wondered, turning his attention back to his laptop and selecting 'beta' from the drop box.

"Nope. That's one of the awesome things about being a beta. You get to choose whatever you want. You can pick some alpha courses, omega courses, both or even neither. Arts and sports are available to everyone as well, though you'll be hard pressed to find many omegas playing contact sports. I was on the swim team, though. They would only let an alpha be captain, but I was his second in command. Honestly, I was the only thing that kept the team united. They kind of hated that guy."

"Dad, you're rambling," Sora pointed out, already scrolling through the course list for his grade. He'd tested into Honors Math and English, AP Biology and U.S. History, and Spanish 2. He was required to take some type of physical class, and some type of arts class, but the options were up to him. He also had to take something career related. Not knowing what he really wanted to do with his life yet, he opted to take Computer Science 1, which he figured would come in handy in a variety of jobs. He wasn't super athletic, so he decided to take Gym 1 and just get the basics out of the way. He also planned on joining the swim team like his dad did. Growing up on the island he'd learned to swim before he could even walk. He was the least interested in the arts, but he had to choose something, so he put himself in Pottery 1. He had absolutely no idea how to sculpt, but he'd built a lot of sandcastles in his day, so he figured it might come easier for him. When all was said and done, he still had one credit open to use for whatever he wanted. His first instinct was to just use it for a study hall, but then he saw a cooking class that caught his attention. Cooking could be fun to learn. His dad had already taught him a lot of basics, and he always enjoyed putting together new recipes.

With his schedule now full, he submitted the form and closed out of the window. On the homepage of the school's website, he saw a link to sign up for sports teams, so he put in an application for a spot on the swim team as well. Tryouts would be a week before school started, and if he had good enough times, he'd get a spot. He was actually kind of glad too, because it would give him a chance to meet some of the other students before school actually started. Maybe he would even make a friend.

"Can we go to the island house this weekend? I want to work on my lap times," Sora asked his dad, closing his laptop and setting it on the coffee table.

"You realize you can go out there whenever you want, right? I'm not going to make you take me along every time. You know where our boat is docked and you know how to sail it. Just don't wreck up the place, and don't sink my boat."

Sora's eyes widened and a grin crossed his face. "You'd seriously let me go by myself? That's so awesome, Dad!"

"You're almost an adult, Sora. I need to give you the room to succeed or fail on your own now. Just do me a favor and don't fail. Got it?"

"Can I go today?" he asked, already out of his chair and gathering up his stuff.

Cloud chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Fine, but be back by dark. And pick up some Chinese on your way home for dinner. I'll give you a 20."

"What're you gonna do all day?"

"Try to finish unpacking some of these boxes," he shrugged, glancing around at the moving boxes they were surrounded by. "If I trip over one more, I'm gonna go insane and start throwing things."

Sora smirked and nodded in agreement. "We may or may not need a new blender. I might've rage-kicked the shit out of it yesterday."

Cloud shot him a glare, but Sora was already heading for the door. He grabbed the keys to the boat off the hook and disappeared before his father could reprimand him. It was only a ten minute walk to the docks from their new house, and Sora was glad to be back in the fresh air.


	3. Gay Panic

**Three**

_Gay Panic_

* * *

"Y'ain't never gonna find a mate lazin' around the couch all day, y'know."

Axel Flynn let out a heavy sigh and turned the TV off, tilting his head back until he could see his foster mom standing behind him with one hand on her hip and the other holding a cigarette. "I told you a thousand times Mrs. H, it's summer break and I have nothing to do."

"Coulda got yerself a damned job or somethin'. Made yerself useful. Never seen an alpha so got-dang lazy a'fore."

Cringing at her lack of grammar, Axel stood up and stretched. "I'm not lazy, Mrs. H. I tried to find a job, but nobody was hiring."

"Then why ain't ya out there trying to find a mate? I'm gonna want yer ass outta here when ya turn 18. Government stops handing out cash for ya."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that…" he grumbled, finding satisfaction in the fact that she had no idea what kind of inheritance he was going to get on his 18th birthday. His parents had been insanely wealthy. "And I'm not trying to find a mate right now. I'm still in high school, for fuck's sake. Who in their right mind thinks they're ready for a mate at this age?"

She scoffed, plumes of smoke pouring from her mouth and nose. "I found my idiot husband when I wasn't 16 years old. We was bonded a'fore we even graduated."

"You graduated?" he muttered under his breath, hoping that she didn't hear him. He'd get his ass beat for a comment like that. "Well, I'm not ready for a commitment like that yet."

"'Course ya ain't. Yer too lazy to take care of a 'mega."

Axel had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying something he'd regret. "Fine. I'll go out if I'm bothering you that much."

"Good. 'N take the beta with ya. I'm sick 'a lookin' at 'im."

He just rolled his eyes and walked up to the base of the stairs. "Saix!"

After a moment, his blue-haired foster brother appeared at the top step. "What's up?"

"Mrs. H is kicking us out for the day. Where do you wanna go?"

Saix huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know what she expects us to do. She never gives us money and nothing is free anymore."

"We could go to the beach. I've got a couple bucks to get some sea salt ice cream, and swimming is free."

"I hate the beach," Saix sighed, but still turned around to get ready.

Axel jumped up the stairs and followed him to their room, which they'd been sharing since they were 13. Saix had been placed with the Hills first, but Axel joined him soon after.

"Is she in one of her moods again?" Saix wondered, pulling on his blue swim trunks.

"Yeah. Pretty sure she's been day drinking. Gave me the whole 'you're useless and lazy' spiel again."

"One I know well," Saix nodded, often on the receiving end of their foster mother's bullshit. She hated betas, and constantly reminded him of that fact. "Still bugging you to find a mate?"

Axel chuckled. "Yupp. Oh, but I'm also 'too lazy' to care for one. Like… which is it, woman?!"

Saix laughed along with him, especially because she was so incredibly wrong about Axel. He was going to be a perfect mate for someone someday. He was easily one of the most caring, protective, and competent alphas that Saix had ever met. "What do you expect? Her and Mr. H have like one brain cell between the two of them."

"Oh come on, now you're giving them too much credit," Axel joked, cracking himself up. He was an only child, but he'd always imagined that having a brother would be like this. Getting placed with Saix was honestly the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sure, he could be uptight and prudish at times, but he always knew when Axel needed a good laugh and never failed to oblige him.

After changing into his red swim trunks that had flames running up the legs, Axel glanced down at his stomach. His abs weren't as defined as they'd been over the school year, mostly because he didn't have a gym to use over the summer. Memberships cost way too much, and there was no way Mrs. H was going to spring for one. He tried to train as much as he could around the house, but it was hard to focus where he wanted to without any equipment.

"What're you looking at?" Saix asked him, looking confused.

"My abs. I'm getting out of shape. Maybe I am lazy…"

His foster brother let out a bark of laughter. "Ha! Very funny, Axel. You're 17 years old and you're ripped! I don't think I've ever seen a teenager with your kind of muscle tone before."

"Ugh, no I'm not. I can't figure out how to bulk up. I'm gonna be a tall, lanky beanpole forever." He was able to put on lean muscle, but no matter how much he worked out, he wouldn't get any bigger. What he didn't realize was that it was just his body type and height, and there was no way for him to control it. His metabolism burned through calories faster than he could eat them.

"You shut up. I'm the one that needs to work out," Saix grumbled, looking down at his small amount of baby fat. He was tall and thin as well, but far more interested in his studies than in training.

Axel just smirked. "Come on. It's not like you're looking for a mate anyways, right?"

"Fuck no!" he laughed, pulling on a grey t-shirt. "Even if I was, I wouldn't want one who only cared about muscles. I'd want a brainy girl who's got her shit figured out and will let me do my own thing too. I can't stand clingy omegas."

"Who says you're gonna mate with an omega?" Axel teased him, jabbing him in the side with his elbow. "Don't betas usually go for other betas?"

Saix rolled his eyes. "Maybe in the olden times. Our generation is breaking all the rules of this stupid hierarchy, and I'm glad. I'm not going to let my dynamic define who I am, and neither should you."

"We really were destined to be brothers, huh?" he commented, swinging an arm around Saix's shoulders and leading him downstairs.

"If you say so," he replied, shrugging Axel off of him. "If someone had told me 4 years ago that I'd have a big ape of an alpha as a brother, I'd have laughed in their face."

Axel gasped loudly, throwing his head back and clutching his heart. "Your words! They sting!"

The two continued to banter back and forth as they walked to the beach, until Axel suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Saix by the waist to halt him as well.

"What the hell?!" Saix squawked, trying to pry his foster brother off of him.

"Look over there!" Axel exclaimed in a hushed whisper, pointing at a group of teenagers in a pretty obvious way.

Saix raised an eyebrow and glanced at the group in question, quickly realizing who it was. "It's just Xion and Namine, you dumbass. What's so special about them?"

"I'm not talking about them! I'm talking about the guy with them!" Axel told him, looking like he was about to stroke out.

That was when Saix noticed the shock of neon pink hair attached to a small boy standing with the girls. "What about him?"

"He's so cute!" Axel whimpered, going into full-on-gay-panic mode.

"If you say so," Saix muttered, laying his towel out in a shaded area and pulling out the book he'd brought with him. "Go talk to him."

Axel's eyes went wide and he shook his head, trying to stay hidden behind a tree. "No! What if I say something stupid?"

"I suppose that _is_ pretty likely."

"Oh shut up," Axel snapped at him, laying his towel down next to his brother's and pulling out his phone. He opened up his group chat with the Gainsborough sisters and sent them a message.

_Axel: Who's that guy with you?!_

_Xion: Uh… creepy? Where are you?_

_Axel: …At the beach. Saix and I just got here._

_Xion: Are you hiding or something?_

_Axel: WHO IS HE?_

_Xion: Are you, like… having a moment or something? _

_Namine: He's having a gay panic! Aww, he likes Roxas._

_Xion: HA!_

_Axel: Shut up, both of you! _

_Axel: Now who is Roxas and why have I never seen him around here before?_

_Namine: He's new to the city. Just moved here from Twilight Town. Xion saw his hair and HAD to be his friend, naturally._

_Xion: Hey, any guy who has the guts to dye his hair bright-ass pink is awesome in my book. _

_Axel: FOCUS LADIES._

_Axel: …What's he like?_

_Xion: Just come over and say hi! _

_Axel: Noooo. I'll make a fool out of myself!_

_Namine: I think I see youuuu. _

_Namine: Well, I see Saix. But I assume you're hiding behind him. _

_Axel: Don't you dare bring him over here!_

_Xion: TOO LATE! _

Axel inhaled sharply and tossed his phone aside, standing up as his eyes darted around to try and find an escape route. He could already see the girls heading over, but maybe he could still-

"Saix! Axel! I thought I spotted you two walking by," Xion called out, effectively trapping him in his spot.

Saix threw them a wave, but continued reading his book. He wasn't as close with them as Axel was, and he wasn't interested in whatever drama was about to go down.

"Uh… yeah, hey! How's it going?" Axel asked in a stilted and awkward voice, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, you know. Just enjoying summer break while it lasts," Xion told him, a cheeky grin on her face. "By the way, this is our friend Roxas. We just met him on our walk here."

The pink-haired boy glanced up from his phone, hardly even looking Axel's direction. "Hey."

"Hi. I'm Axel," he offered, blushing hard. He was about to introduce his foster brother when the breeze picked up, and Axel was hit right in the face with the intoxicating scent of an omega. He knew it wasn't the girls; he'd gotten used to their scents long ago. No, this scent was so strong and sweet that it was making him dizzy. It had to be Roxas.

"Roxas, don't be rude!" he heard Xion whisper, pushing the boy closer to Axel.

He shoved his phone in his pocket and finally looked up, nearly stopping Axel's heart with his crystal blue eyes. "Sorry. My girlfriend gets pissy if I don't text her back right away."

And all at once, Axel's heart shattered into pieces inside his chest. Of course the cutest omega he'd ever seen would be taken. And even worse, straight. "Oh, uh… no problem. Totally get it."

Roxas didn't seem to know what to say to that, so he just stood there awkwardly. Axel took the opportunity to look him over, trying not to be creepy about it as he did. He was adorably small, probably standing a good foot and a half shorter than Axel did, and he was hilariously wearing a full black outfit including wonderfully tight skinny jeans, a zippered hoodie and combat boots, even though it had to have been at least 90 degrees that day. He also wore a slim black choker around his neck, which the alpha found particularly enticing, because it drew attention directly to his scent glands. Axel could also see the hints of a tattoo near his shoulder and collarbone, which confused and intrigued him because the kid couldn't have been any older than he was. He also had snakebite piercings on his lower lip, and a ring through one of his eyebrows.

Realizing that the two of them were just gonna stand there and stare at each other, Xion piped up. "So… we were gonna play volleyball, but we need one more. Wanna join?"

"I told you, I don't wanna-" Roxas began to object, but she cut him off.

"Hush. You and Axel against me and Nami. And be lucky I'm giving you the hot muscular guy. I could've kept him for myself."

Roxas gave her the side eye. "Uh… are you two…?"

"No!" Axel exclaimed, knowing exactly where he was going with that question. "No. I'm gay. 100%, dick-loving gay."

Saix snorted beside them. "And you were worried you'd say something stupid."

He kicked sand at his foster brother, his cheeks heating up again. "Sure, I'll play with you guys. Let's go."

Knowing that Roxas was not only taken, but straight as well was making Axel's gay panic slowly ease up on him, but the wind kept blowing that sweet omega scent right into his face, and it was making his heart race every time. Hanging around this kid was going to be trouble.


End file.
